Device for tightening bands



(No Model.)

G. D. FROST.

DEVICE FOR TIGHTENING BANDS.

No. 373,0 7. Eagented N ov. 8. i887.

W is d I amen Wm UNITED STATES PATENT Oriana.

GEORGE D. FROST, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

DEVICE FOR TIGHTENING BANDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373.017, dated November 8, 1887.

Application filed October 29, 1886. Renewed October 18, 1887. Serial No. 252,771. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. FROST, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Concord, in the county of Merrimac and State ofNew Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Tightening Bands; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

It is a very common practice to secure a strap or cord about trunks and boxes to pro tect them from the rough handling to which they are often exposed, the locks and hinges being often broken and the trunks shattered and ruined after use for a short period. Great difficulty has always been experienced in making such a strap embrace the trunk tightly enough to act efticiently. To be of much service, the strap should compress the cover closely upon the body of the trunk and hold them together, so that any shock given to one part shall be distributed throughout the whole mass of the same without causing a dislocation or breaking of either lock or hinges. In

the use of a leather strap provided with a buckle it is almost impossible to prevent a certain degree of relaxation of the strap after entering the buckle'tongue in the hole in the strap, and unless great force is used in tightening the strap no good effect is produced, and at the best the result is unsatisfactory.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple means of easy application for tightening the strap, which will dispense with the necessity of stretching it by a laborious pull; and it consists in the device herein described and claimed. A preferred form is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel is a bottom plan of the tightening device placed upon a strap ready for use; Fig. 2, a top plan after the strap has been ti htened; Fig. 3, a central longitudinal section; Fig. 4, an end view on an enlarged scale; Fig. 5, a View of a trunk partly broken away, the strap being shown in position and the tightener in use; Fig. 6, a plan view of-the strap and modified form of tightener, secured together at the free end of the latter by a loop. Figs. 7 and 8 are end views showing modified forms of books, and Fig. 9 represents an equivalent of the body and hook.

My device has formed in its end 4 two transverse slots sufficiently large to receive a trunk strap, cord, or belt, and separated by a transverse bar, and at the otherend it is provided with a hook, 2, designed to slip under the strap, as will be explained. The shank or body 3 should ordinarily be made three to five inches in length and the ends at 1 and 2 from one to two inches in Width; but these dimensions may be varied for different uses.

In preparing to use the tightener the strap is drawn through the apertures l 1,as indicated in Fig. 1, the tightener then lying bottom side up on the strap, which should be buckled or otherwise secured about the trunk with such degree of tightness as may be easily given it,

but varying somewhat according to the size of the trunk and of the tightener and the rigidity of the strap.

To tighten the strap about the trunk the end on which is the hook is raised and thrown entirely over, so as to fold the strap upon itself, as represented in Fig. 5. This imparts a good degree of tension to the strap, which be provided witha wedge-shaped projection,

5, which allows its introduction under the strap, but is provided with a vertical wall, 6, to bear against the edge of the same and prevent a return movement sidewise. The hook preferably lies in plane below the body of the device, as indicated at 2 in Fig. 3; but this is not essential, nor is the Wedge-shaped projection, as the tension of the strap would tend to hold the device in place if a plain straight hook or piece were used, whether in the same plane with the strap or not.

Thehook may be made short, asindicated in Fig. 7, and this may also be provided with ateat or projection to press into the strap or to en ter a hole provided therein to prevent displacement; or the shank may be made either sickle-shaped (see Fig. 9) or angular, so that its end will ordinarily be in position to be conveniently inserted under the strap. The shank might be provided with two shorthooks or bent flanges, as indicated in Fig. 8, one on each edge near its free end, into which the strap could easily be inserted by first slipping it sidewise into one hook and then compressing the strap laterally and slipping the other hook under the other edge of the strap.

In some cases I may dispense with the hook and substitute other means for holding down the free end of the tightener. For this purpose a leather loop may be provided and slipped over both strap and tightener, as in dieated in Fig. 6, and stops may be employed to pre\-*entaccidental displacement of the loop. Acord or wire loop might be used. The apertures 1 1, with an intervening bar, would operate,were they made as open slots, somewhat similar to the openings at the hook end of the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The device is adapted for use in tightening binding devices like a cord or chain around various objects, and the size, form, and material can be easily varied to suit any particular usein view, though it is principally designed to be used with trunk-straps, and the preferred form is illustrated.

In applying the iightener to trunks having ribs the preferred modeis to place it so that it will extend aboutequallyon each side of a rib when finally secured in position, and in the case of trunks or other articles having a rounded top the tightener is preferably applied to the side, though it is obvious that the tightener could be made and shaped to conform to such rounded or curved top.

My device for use on trunks is preferably made of cast-iron, which may, if desired, be galvanized or nickeled, or provided with a non-corrodible surface in any known manner; but for some uses the device may be made of other metals, or of wood, paper, celluloid, rubber, &e. If it is to be used in tightening ropes,

chains, or other bands, the form of the apertures and hook will obviously be varied accord ingly.

Heretofore a package-holder has been described provided with a handle and having an opening in an extension thereof with an upwardly-curved end, whereby a strap might be passed over said end and through the opening and tightened by depressing the other end, which was adapted to be secured to the strap; and, also, a binding device has been proposed consisting of a lever and cross-bar or crosshead so formed that this could be connected with a pair of cords or a doubled cord and operated to tighten the same. Such devices would be impracticable for the use herein proposed, and they are not claimed. My device embraces slots which are arra nged transversely to the length of the same, which slots are separated by a transverse bar, the construction of the parts being such as set forth, whereby a strap can be passed through both slots and its ends secured, and the device then turned through a semicircle to tighten the strap, and the free end then secured to said strap.

The advantages and uses of my invention are so manifest that they need not be more fully described.

What I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The herein-described device for tightening trunk-straps,having a shank or body provided at one end with two transverse apertures separated by a transverse bar, and having at the other end a hook or projection adapted to slip under the strap after it is tightened, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described means for binding trunks, which consists in the combination of the tightener having a shank provided with transverse slots separated by a transverse bar, with a strap having ordinary devices for securing it around a trunk, and with means, as set forth, for securing the free end of the tightener to the strap, as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE D. FROST.

\Vitnesses:

W. A. S'ronn, Jr., JOHN H. COUCH. 

